The History of Emily Montague is considered the first Canadian novel. Written by a British colonist, Frances Brooke, in an epistolary form, the novel is remarkable for its observations of the lives and traditions of Quebecers and Natives, as well as the manners of the upper-British classes. This is a scholarly edition that brings to light new information about the times and the context of the novel.

Frances Brooke was born in England in 1724. She moved to Quebec with her husband, where she chronicled her life as a first-generation English colonist.